Are Industry Events Still Relevant ?
+ a new approach to Cannes and AFM
Good morning and happy weekend dear readers!
I hope you all had a fruitful week. I normally try to send out my weekly newsletters by Friday but once again, the week got away from me. So here we are on a Saturday again!
I wanted to thank you for all the love and shares on my last newsletter piece Lessons From Sean Baker. At the end of that post I teased the topic of film industry events and whether they are worth attending anymore given the recipe I outlined for how to succeed in today’s ‘contracting’ market as follows:
Keep making your films
Reimagine your projects as lower cost alternatives
Shelve bigger scale/bigger budget projects for later
Wear many hats, make more with less people, locations, gear
Accept ‘new’ distribution as your source for audience and revenue
Adapt grassroots marketing tactics to increase surface area. Start with my marketing cheat sheet
Rinse, repeat
So Where Do Industry Events Come In?
I’ll cut to the chase and say that I’m finding traditional industry events like film markets and conferences less useful in my own business and Producer journey. There was a time when I invested (heavily) in going to EFM, Cannes, and AFM all in the same year and could track ROI over the long term in doing so. Lately, I’ve found it difficult to see any ROI from attending these markets in person and I’ve changed my approach completely with how I work with traditional buyers and sellers.
EFM just happened a few weeks ago and I didn’t think twice about skipping it. With Cannes coming up, I find little reason to attend in person anymore since I can distribute my work direct to platform or audience and would rather invest the money it takes to attend Cannes into the content I’m producing myself.
I’ve also adapted a strategy of going directly to traditional buyers via select aggregators to just submitting to them myself which I can do from the comfort of home - and the economics are must better!
In speaking regularly with my distributor and sales agent friends they all tell me the business that happens at these events has changed dramatically too. Even they are finding it hard to justify the costs of attending and exhibiting there because many of the buyers are coming looking for package deals on a rev-share basis and not willing to pay license fees for the low budget films and docs that used to be the bread and butter of these markets. So how can they justify the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to attend a major market like Cannes and not recoup their costs in license fees? You can only argue ‘relationship building’ for so long before the money losses start to register you and ask yourself, why am I willing to lose money to attend these markets in the first place? 🤷🏻♀️
Does this mean I think the Cannes Film Market and AFM are not long for this world? Actually, I think they’ll keep on keeping on but the economics of these markets has drastically changed and the utility for producers, filmmakers, and even buyers and sellers is in question.
What’s The Solution Then?
As filmmakers and producers, there’s ways to leverage these Film Markets for your work, but the strategies to go about it are very different than just a few years ago.
As a result, I’ve completely changed the way I work with clients in this capacity. If you’re someone who has a project that you’re thinking of launching at upcoming Cannes Film Market for example, there’s ways you can do so without completely emptying your bank account to attend in person.
To that end, I’m releasing an all new version of my Film Market Consulting - if you’re interested in having me guide you through the process of distribution and film markets, email me at stacey@filmspecific.com with info on your project, the stage you’re in, and any relevant links to IMDB, trailers, or websites.
What are your thoughts on industry events?
Hit me up in the comments below and let’s discuss!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone and speak again soon….
Stacey
+++++
This was right up my alley. Looking to implement these strategies on my current project. Thank you!
Excellent timing on this question because I chose to go to the inaugural HumanX event instead of SXSW. I'm not going for the full week with education track as usual at NAB this year. In the post lockdown entertainment industry, I definitely think going is more of a luxury for the business versus a necessity for business. From a legacy standpoint, I think the festivals and award shows are for nostalgia nowadays, not for storytelling or the business of storytelling! What's your next event you plan to attend?